Splat-Toon
by Pikatwig
Summary: Inky, a young and zealous filled girl, gets to live her dream as she arrives in the city of Inkopolis. She's primed to join the Turf Wars to be a Turf War Star, and nothing will get in the way of her dreams.
1. Episode 1

I honestly love Splatoon, now that I have actually played it. In one Art Trade I did with one of my good buddies on my DA account, I brought in a few Inkling OCs, and in another conversation we had, I mentioned how cool a Splatoon cartoon would be and he said it would be a cool 'Splat-Toon', hence the name of this series.

Another thing, is that the show will have a sort of two stories per episode, being like two-fifteen minute episodes.

Well, let's begin. I don't own Splatoon, but I do own some Inkling OCs.

* * *

 **A Splatting Arrival**

* * *

It was a normal day in the suburb city of Inkas in the continent of North Splatstar, where a cyan female Inkling was reading a book, the bored girl slightly adjusting her glasses that had a black rim around them, wearing a Basic Tee that was yellow, black shorts and Blue Slip-Ons. The girl stared at the book, obvious disinterest coloring her face.

"And thus, the Great Turf War ended… how?" the teacher asked, looking around the class, spotting the cyan Inkling, "...Inky,"

"I'm sorry, what?" the cyan Inkling, Inky, responded in confusion.

"Not paying attention Ah see," the teacher groaned, showing off a bit of a southern accent.

"I am, I just didn't hear the question," Inky lied, slightly moving her glasses to the right before fixing them.

The teacher sighed before she looked at her, "The Great Turf War ended how?"

Inky thought for a moment, ready to glance at her textbook.

"No textbook," the teacher added quickly.

Inky sighed and thought for a moment, "Uh… we outnumbered them in one final assault?"

"That answer is… correct, but ya forgot a detail. Ah suppose this is satisfactory," the teacher shrugged as she turned back to the white board, before she could say another word, the bell rang.

"YES!" Inky shouted as she grabbed her bag and darted for the door, only to be stopped by her teacher, "What?"

"Don't forget, yer report on the Great Turf War is due before ya go on Spring Break," the teacher warned her.

"Wh-wha-why?! Everybody else has it due after we get back!" Inky demanded to know.

"It's simple. Yer grades are slipping and ya need to get a boost in ASAP," the teacher informed.

Inky simply nodded as she turned into a squid and slide to the door.

"No turning into a squid in school!" the teacher shouted, making Inky groan and turn back to normal.

* * *

After school Inky looked around at some other Inklings, all of whom were talking, playing a video game, or just relaxing. Inky let out an annoyed groan as she looked at her book bag and then looked at a drawing, showing herself in a Turf War with a winning team.

"Man I wish they allowed Turf Wars here in this stupid place," Inky muttered as she slowly walked off campus, "I hate this stupid southern place, I hate school, I hate how they don't allow Turf Wars, I wanna be a Turf War Star!"

She kicked a can and watched it fly into a nearby stream of water, the can dissolving into it. Inky simply walked past it and continued on her way home.

"Why does it have to be Arcticday? This is the worst day of the week," she groaned as she arrived at an apartment building and opened up the door to sit down and try and relax. The cyan Inkling groaned as she saw a much older female Inkling woman working on something in the kitchen, "Heya,"

"Watch your tone, young lady," the older Inkling warned.

"...I was just saying 'heya'," Inky pointed out.

"Are you back-talking?"

Inky slowly scooted under the table and sat there.

"Good. Now then kid, you go to your room and start working on homework,"

"I just got home, can't I at least relax a little wh-"

"Your teacher called to inform me your grades are slipping. You march that little tushie up to your room and do your homework,"

"...yes ma'am," Inky relented as she walked up to her bedroom.

The room was only a small section hers, with a large chunk of it belonging to a much smaller and younger male Inkling. Inky grumbled as she carefully stepped by a tape border made by the male Inkling, going over to what little of the room was hers. She plopped her bookbag down on her bed and started to dig for something. After two or so minutes of searching, she found a sketchbook and she proceeded to begin drawing out herself as the winner of a Turf War.

' _Someday… I'll be great. I'll show them all how great I'll be,'_ Inky thought, smiling as she continued to sketch, _'And someday… I'll get to Inkopolis… the most famous town of the Turf Wars…'_

* * *

Later that evening, Inky was awoken by the sounds of a window opening up. She chose to risk getting in trouble for sneaking out in the night and climbed out the window, using her squid form to slip through the bars on the fire escapes.

She then saw the young boy she shared the room with along with two others all looking at something. Inky then got a closer look and saw it was a weapon from a Turf War, but it lacked colors. Inky let out a gasp as the three boys turned around to face her.

"Inky!" the young boy she shared a room with gasped.

"Leave us alone!" another boy nearly yelled, tossing a pebble at her.

"...Troy, what are you, Austin and Michael doing up this late?" Inky inquired.

"My brother got back from Inkopolis, Splatkyo and he brought us a souvenir," Michael stated quickly as he showed a sort of bulky blaster of sorts, which Inky quickly grabbed and caused it to change to cyan, "...h-h-h-how did you-"

"It doesn't matter, you're to girly to hold something like this," Austin shouted as he attempted to make a grab for it, which Inky was easily able to avoid.

The older female gave a roll of her eyes and gripped the weapon tightly, "A Splattershot Jr., I finally have a Turf War weapon…"

Inky smirked as she then took aim and fired some ink, the same cyan color that her hair was, which covered up a bit of the ground. She gave a mischievous giggle and smirk and fired much more rapidly, her zeal over-taking her as she splatted more ink on the buildings nearby, around the ground and then she turned into a squid to recharge the Splattershot Jr. a little bit.

"Give me back my souvenir!" Michael shouted, before he hid behind Jason of nervousness.

Inky said nothing as she turned around and then proceeded to splat more ink, nearly hitting the three boys. She growled a bit and then slowly realized she nearly hit them and could've very easily hurt them.

"WHAT IS GOING ON OUT HERE?!" the caretaker of Inky and Jason shouted as she walked out, gasping upon seeing the ink around the area, "...ink?"

She then took a single look at Inky holding the Splattershot Jr. and growled at her.

"I didn't hit them…" Inky responded.

* * *

Later the next morning, Inky was in a child service office and was waiting for somebody to talk. The young female Inkling slightly kicking the air in thought, before somebody handed her papers of eviction.

"I'm sorry Ms. Inky, but… you have been removed from your foster family," an older male Inkling informed, "This means that unless somebody else is willing to take you in, you will be put in a foster family. ...assuming you aren't taken to juvie for having a Turf War weapon,"

"Somebody brought it as a souvenir for their younger sibling when they came back from Inkopolis," Inky informed as the gears in her mind began to turn.

"You'll need to appear in court about this 'souvenir', and to face charges for attacking the kids,"

"I didn't hit them!"

"...that's not what your caretaker and those kids are saying…"

Inky let out a loud groan as she thunked her head against the wall in annoyance. As the older male Inkling took his leave, Inky began to think and realized her best bet was to find a way to Inkopolis.

* * *

"And how does the court find this young Inkling?" a manatine asked the court of jellyfish.

"Your honor, we find this Inkling… not guilty on all charges," a jellyfish informed.

"WHAT?! BUT SHE HAD AN ILLEGAL WEAPON A-" Inky's ex-caregiver snapped.

"It was not hers, she didn't attack anybody, thus, not-guilty. However, due to the fact we cannot find a weapon registration file for the real owner of the item-"

"The Splattershot Jr.," Inky informed quickly, earning looks, "...what? I read about Turf Wars,"

"...then the weapon shall be given to this girl for safekeeping, but is to not be used," the jellyfish added.

The manatine thought for another moment before nodding, "And she shall stay here until we find somebody to take her in. This court, is adjourned,"

* * *

Inky sat in a room in the child care service office, the Inkling simply waiting for a moment to be left alone so she could bail and try to find a way to Splatkyo. She looked at the Splattershot Jr. in thought, the girl aiming it and mentally trying to recall the code to unlock the safety lock on the weapon.

' _What was it? ...uh… 02 something?'_ she thought. The cyan Inkling was interrupted from her thoughts by a child care employee walking in.

"Good news Inky, there's somebody who's willing to look after you," he informed, "...unfortunately, we couldn't find somebody here in Splatonio, but we were able to find a nice person in the city of Inkopolis. We told her to not remove the safety lock until you reach the age they allow Inklings to be in the Turf War,"

"Alright," Inky nodded as she put the Turf War weapon away. She gave a wide smile, extremely happy she'd be heading to the most famous town for Turf Wars…

* * *

Soon enough, Inky was on a boat on her way to Inkopolis. The girl was in a seat in the captain's room, giggling like a schoolgirl about finally going to Inkopolis. She was currently in the middle of sketching a picture of herself in the city by the famous Inkopolis Tower, a tower that had been in existence long before Inklings had begun to record history.

"I can't wait… Inkopolis, here comes the newest Turf War star," Inky smiled happily as she finished her sketch.

* * *

 **The New Squid in Town**

* * *

Inky arrived at a small house, where a paper note was taped onto the door.

"'Sorry. Busy with work. Go on, help yourself to whatever. Wait until tomorrow until going into town,' ...boo," Inky groaned as she walked on into the house, seeing it was rather fancy looking. She sat down and continued her drawings, the female Inkling simply wanting to head into the town to do some exploring and sign up to get her Turf War on.

Inky waited for hours and hours, raiding a pantry to get some food after two hours and simply continuing to sit and draw, all the while she was attempting to crack the code for the safety lock. She was able to decode a 0, 5, 2, and another 5. She continued to sketch and attempt to crack the code late into the night. She eventually dozed off on the couch, the girl being placed underneath a blanket as she snoozed.

* * *

"...huh?" Inky blinked as she slowly woke up, looking at the blanket that was put over her. She then saw another note, "Ugh… more reading? 'Dear kid, sorry, had to leave for work early. Left you some pancakes you could microwave. Forgot to unlock your weapon, but you're free to go into town.' ...I can go to Inkopolis!"

Inky wasted no time as she got up, headed over to the pancakes, heated them up, ate them, and proceeded to head for the main part of Inkopolis.

She soon got in closer and saw some balloons floating around, Inky proceeding to aim the Splattershot Jr. at them… only to remember it couldn't fire due to the safety lock.

"...I hate this," she groaned, before she sat down to think the code over. She knew there was a 0, 5, 2 and another 5, but that meant there were still four more left. She slowly thought about how the code could be inputed. Inky then growled in anger and tossed it to the ground in anger, the thump hitting some button or something, causing the code to reveal itself, "Huh?"

Inky picked up the weapon and saw the code read '05-28-20-15'. She then pressed a button, causing the safety lock to fall off and allow her full use of the shooter. Inky quickly began to splat some of the roaming balloons and some of the nearby ground, allowing her to head forward and on the path to Inkopolis. After roaming around a bit, she wandered into what looked like a skate park that nobody was playing in. Inky continued forward and saw a large gap and some glass that meant she couldn't ink up the wall.

"...okay… here I go," she gulped nervously as she inked a trail in front of herself and then a bit of the area in front of her with her sub weapon, the Splat Bomb, thus she headed into the ink and made her jump attempt, just narrowly missing. Inky stuck out of the ink, still in her squid form, "...the squid jump… the one thing I can't do,"

* * *

 _Inky and her elementary school class were playing a game in gym class that had ink over the ground and they had to jump over and catch a flag. Everybody in Inky's team had made the jump, leaving the kid on her own._

" _Hey come on Inky," a friend of hers called out._

 _Inky nodded, diving into the ink and then making an attempt… only to fall a bit short, thunking into the wall._

" _You okay Inky?" her friend shouted._

" _...I'm fine," Inky responded. She swam back up to the jump and attempted it again, but fell short yet again. It happened again, and again, and again._

" _Okay Inky, enough!" her gym teacher shouted, "You've tried your hardest, but you can't make it… I'll let you pass, but it won't be higher than an 90,"_

* * *

 _Inky whimpered a bit as she looked down to the ground._

Inky swam back up the steps and attempted the jump again, but failed again. She went back up and tried again, once again failing. She didn't give up, attempting to go from a bit more of a distance, but it didn't work out. Inky was there for about fifteen minutes, before somebody happened to walk up and see her.

"...I can… do this… need… to… get to… inner… Inkopolis," Inky panted.

The male figure rolled his eyes as he picked Inky up and tossed her like a football over to the other side, Inky landing in the ink, a bit shaken by what just happened. The male fired at the balloons, revealing his weapon to be a Splatterscope. He said nothing as he simply went on ahead to the city, ignoring Inky.

"...what a jerk, doesn't bother to help me and just flings me like a sport ball… I feel so violated," Inky groaned as she turned back to her humanoid form, she looked up and saw the straight line of ink, "...must have some sort of a Charger…"

Inky continued onwards after a moment, swimming under some grates and coming to a stop upon seeing a large UFO surrounded by some purple colored ink. The cyan Inkling then tossed a Splat Bomb down to give herself some breathing room before she jumped down, going back into the ink to recharge her weapon, and then continuing to spread more ink along the ground as she headed forward. Inky couldn't help but look at the UFO with curiosity, seeing the tech seemed to be something that slightly looked like what the enemies in the Great Turf War had used.

Inky shrugged off the thought before she continued onwards using Splat Bombs to blow up some crates and then head upwards, inking along the way. She finally arrived at the stretch that lead to the main part of Inkopolis. Inky took a moment to sketch out what the tower looked like from the distance she was at before using a Super Jump to head for the inner part of town.

* * *

Inky landed, posing a bit as she did so, happy as a kid on Squidmas morning. She giggled and looked around the city in amazement, the beauty of a modern area capturing her eyes and her excitement.

"I made it… I finally got to the best city for Turf Wars!" she squealed, before she earned a 'shh' from some Inklings. Inky looked in confusion before seeing their attention at a monitor.

-Hold on to your tentacles…- one girl on the monitor began, filled with excitement and energy.

-It's Inkopolis News Time.- the other girl continued, being a bit less excited but had an air of enjoyment about the announcement.

The two announced the current popular Turf War stages, before somebody whispered something to the one to the left.

-News flash! News flash!- the girl to the left began.

-What is it Callie, what is it?!- the girl to the right asked.

The girl to the left, Callie, checked some signs from off-camera as pictures flashed on screen, showing some large black item attached to the Great Inkopolis Tower.

-Well Marie, it looks like… Inkopolis' Great Zapfish has… vanished!- Callie exclaimed.

-Wait… seriously?!- the girl to the right, Marie, gasped as she looked outside to check this for herself.

-If it isn't recovered soon, are we gonna lose power?- Callie asked.

-Oh. Uh… I-I-I'm sure it'll be fine… probably.- Marie responded, attempting to mutter the 'probably' part.

Another image was shown on screen being a very blurred picture of what appeared to be the same UFO that Inky saw on her way over.

-I wonder if it has anything to do with that UFO crash?- Callie pondered.

-Sounds likely to me.- Marie responded.

The news ended, with Callie and Marie regaining their normal composure.

-Well, that's all for now. Until next time…- Callie began, before she and her sister posed announcing -Stay fresh!-

Inky smiled softly as she then noticed the Inkling who tossed her earlier. She instantly growled and then walked over to him, "Hey you!"

The male Inkling, who was wearing the Backwards Cap, Dark Urban Vest, black shorts and Black Moto Boots, turned around to face Inky, "What?"

"Why did you throw me?!" Inky demanded to know.

"You were taking to long, I had to get here," he responded.

"But that's no reason to toss me!" Inky stated.

"Oh shut up, girly," he scoffed as he walked away.

Inky growled in anger and then charged right at him, only for him to side-step her, "Ow…"

"You're 100 Freshness Levels to low to stand a chance," he stated, "The name's Paintara, and you'll soon see me kick your sorry butt back to whatever hole you came outta,"

"Oh yeah? Well… I'll see you in the Turf Wars, meanie!" Inky growled as she walked off in a huff.

"...what a lameoid," he shrugged as he walked away.

* * *

Inky looked at the Great Inkopolis Tower with a smile, sketching out what it looked like happily.

"Just watch… I'll be a great Turf War Star… you'll see," Inky smiled as she sketched herself with another female Inkling, the two smiling happily…

* * *

Phew! I just narrowly finished this in the nick of time. Had to look up a video of the first bit of the game since I can't remember. ...yeah, don't have a great memory.

Regardless… if I had to pick a favorite part… in "A Splatting Arrival" it would be when Inky was told she could head for Splatkyo and then in "A New Squid in Town" it would be her joy upon arriving in Inkopolis… really encapsulates the joy of finally making it to the town when I first got the game.

With that, we end off. Just Live More.


	2. Episode 2

Sorry that this second episode took so long to get to. I've just had bad months after the first episode, and then I got busy with various other things.

The day that this is being typed is the first day of the final Splatfest. I should note that I will eventually cover Splatfests with this story, though when I will I don't know. For the curious, I am on Team Marie. Hopefully you can go and see some of my awesome Miiverse posts I made during the festivities.

Regardless, this story hasn't been updated in almost five months, let's fix that!

I don't own Splatoon, it belongs to Nintendo and the like. I do own some OCs.

* * *

 **Inkopolis Exploration**

* * *

Inky had set her painting into a bookbag as she walked around the area a little bit, the Great Inkopolis Tower shining tall amongst the downtown area of Inkopolis. Inky stared at it with a smile, before she saw some Inklings walk into it and head off for a Turf War.

"Super coolios!" Inky giggled happily, a super giddy expression on her face as she jumped up and down a bit.

"Hey kid," a male Inkling told her, "You ok?"

"I'm new here," Inky informed, not even looking at him.

"You have that vibe about you…" he admitted, "If you're looking for the bathrooms, they're between the tower and Ammo Knights,"

"...that is good info, thank you," Inky shrugged as she walked around a bit.

* * *

She noticed a sign reading 'Ammo Knights', and she proceeded to walk on in, "Hello!"

"Ah, hello young miss," a young male's voice greeted, Inky looking to see a sort of horseshoe crab person with glasses and a relatively simple outfit, "What's your name?"

"Inky's the name, Turf War is my game!" Inky smirked proudly.

"Really? I have never seen you before in any Turf Wars," he shrugged.

"Just got here in fact,"

"Oh…" he nodded, "My name is Sheldon and I happen to own Ammo Knights,"

"Awesome. So… what can I get?" Inky smiled.

"...uh… unfortunately, nothing right now," Sheldon apologized.

"Why?" Inky blinked, taking out several gold coins, "I have money!"

"But you just aren't… fresh enough,"

The cyan Inkling took off her glasses and smiled.

"That's not how it works kid."

Inky sighed in defeat as she headed out and looked around a bit, before seeing another shop. She shrugged and walked on in, seeing a woman with large pink and green hair unpacking some hats.

"Hi," Inky greeted.

"Oh!" the girl gasped as she tripped over herself as she tried to turn around to face Inky, "Ite… (Ow…)"

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Inky asked as she helped her up.

"Hai (Yes)," she nodded, "Youkoso (Welcome)"

Before Inky could respond, she could've sworn she heard somebody yell out "Loser alert!", but she looked and saw nobody else was there.

"Ano… (Uh…) I haven't seen you around here…" she commented.

"My name's Inky, I just got to Inkopolis," Inky smiled, "Uh… my Splatinese is a bit rusty but uh… ogenki desu ka (how are you)?"

"Genki desu (I'm fine)," she smiled, "Atashi wa (My name is) Annie,"

"Nice to meet you Annie," Inky smiled back.

Annie then took a moment to look at Inky and then sighed, "...gomenasai (I'm sorry), but we have a… uh… rule here. Once you… reach a certain level of freshness… then you can buy stuff…"

"You've gotta be kidding me," Inky sighed.

"Gomen,"

Inky was about to leave when she heard someone say 'Get outta here', but Inky shrugged it off as she headed out, "Irrerashi (Bye),"

* * *

Inky looked around a little bit before noticing a clothing store, Jelly Fresh, and she headed on in, seeing a small blue jelly-fish was there, dusting off some shirts.

"Hi. My name's Inky a-" Inky began, when the jelly-fish turned around and gasped.

"BLUUUUH!" he gasped.

"...don't tell me…"

"Un fashion crime iz in the progress!" the jelly-fish proclaimed, "Moldy customer iz mold! Jelonzo iz in, how you say, shock! You are needing more of ze fresh for ze shopping! Turf War, then again visiting!" the jelly-fish, Jelonzo, proclaimed as he shoved Inky out of the store.

"...sacre blue," Inky groaned.

There remained one other shop that Inky had not yet gone into, but she was ready to realize she'd likely get the same response.

"Might as well try," she shrugged as she walked on in, seeing a shrimp with… several shoes on his feet and was dusting off others. The shrimp turned around to face Inky, "...my name is Inky and I'm new here,"

"'Yo squiddo! Good to see you here in Shrimp Kicks!'," he smiled.

"FINALLY SERVICE!"

"Is what I WOULD be saying if you weren't so UN-FRESH! For reals dudette, do you even battle? Come again when you get more oomph!" he proclaimed.

"...oomph?" Inky blinked in confusion.

"OOMPH!" he proclaimed as he gestured to the door.

* * *

"Figured that would happen," Inky sighed as she sat down on a bench, before she noticed something sitting nearby.

It was an old school arcade cabinet that was missing a game name, but clearly had a game set into it. Inky giggled as she walked on over to it and saw the game 'Squid Jump' was in it. She was about to set in a coin, but…

"Hey you!" a girl's voice called out, making Inky turn to see an Inkling with magenta hair, wearing a Gas Mask, a pink skirt, a Dark Urban Vest and a pair of high heeled versions of White Arrows, stood, "You're not fresh enough to play this game!"

"Oh come on!" Inky groaned as she was shoved aside.

"Hey Alyssa, some un-freshie about to play with our system?" a familiar sounding voice asked.

Inky groaned as she saw Paintara walk on over.

"Oh, it's you," Paintara rolled his eyes.

Inky quickly stood up and hurried off in a huff

* * *

The cyan-haired Inkling had arrived by a food vendor owned by a pink jelly-fish wearing a beret and she took out some coins, "I don't suppose I have to be uber-fresh-levels to get a Fizzie Popper?"

The jelly-fish took the coins and handed Inky the soda and a bendy straw.

"Thanks," Inky smiled as she sat down, "...you're the second nice person I've met all day. I'm Inky by the way. What's your name?"

"Pierre," the jelly-fish greeted.

"Nice to meet you," Inky smiled as she sipped her soda happily. She looked around and saw people purchasing items from the various stores and enjoying a relatively nice day , "...nice and peaceful,"

"Even with ze Great Zapfish missing," Pierre commented...

* * *

 **Learning To Turf**

* * *

Inky had roamed around a little bit more, now alongside Pierre, before she saw a building marked 'Battle Dojo'.

"Hey Pierre, what's this?" Inky couldn't help but ask.

"Here iz where one can train for Turf Wars," Pierre informed.

"...sorry Pierre, I need to go! See you later!" Inky smiled.

"It iz fine. I must attend to my stand," Pierre nodded as he walked off.

Thus, Inky skipped on into the building and saw a male Inkling with white hair and a gi like a karate sensei.

"Yoohoo!" Inky smiled.

The Inkling said nothing as he stood up and took out an N-Zap '89, pressed a button and watched as balloons floated up and he quickly fired the N-Zap '89 with skill, leaving trails of white ink on the ground.

"...cool," Inky smiled.

"Show me your skills…" he instructed.

Inky shrugged as she took out the Splattershot Jr and fired a little bit, but it was rather weakly done.

"...you must learn the ways of the Turf War," he groaned, "Inky was it?"

"Yes sir,"

"Call me Sensei Hongo," he informed.

* * *

Sensei Hongo and Inky walked down to a virtual reality generator and were in Blackbelly Skate Park when the tech set in.

"When you start a Turf War, you must wait for the timer to go off. Quickly cover as much turf as you can as you run forward and support your team as best you can," Sensei Hongo explained as he motioned for Inky to go over to the corner for the orange team.

"Why orange instead of cy-?" Inky began when she saw her hair had changed to orange, "...I like my cyan… I want my cyan back!"

"Complete your training, and prove you are worthy of it," Sensei Hongo told her.

Inky groaned a bit as she walked to the base for the orange team. She fired her weapon as fast as she could, before white ink quickly came over and splatted her, causing Inky to pop back up to the generator, "...what just happened?"

"That is being splatted. If you get hit enough, you go back to your base. Without the generators in the bases, being splatted could be deadly."

"Good to know…" Inky nodded.

* * *

"There are three weapon classes. What you hold is called the shooter. There are also rollers and chargers." Sensei Hongo informed as he showed off his Carbon Roller Deco and his Bamboozler 14 Mk III, "There is a new rumored fourth weapon type planning to be added by the Turf War Committee, but it's nothing more than rumors."

Inky nodded, before letting out a soft yawn.

"Next are the Sub Weapons. If you have enough ink in your tank, tossing them can be the key to giving you a victory,"

"Ok…"

"And lastly, we have the Special Weapons. These require a lot of charge time, but when fully charged, are the greatest weapon anybody can ask for. These range from shield, to turning into a krayken,"

"Isn't it kraken?" Inky asked.

"Who's teaching here, me or you?"

Inky rolled her eyes.

"A bazooka, and the legendary Inkstrike."

"What makes it legendary?" Inky inquired.

"Did you ever pay attention in school?" Sensei Hongo groaned.

"Not really,"

Sensei Hongo put his hand up to his face and sighed heavily.

* * *

Over the next few hours, Inky slowly got the hang of her practice matches with Sensei Hongo, despite losing all of them horribly. She was rolled over, struck in the back, knocked off via the roller, swatted off the map by the roller up close, and even slipped and fell right into Hongo's ink.

"You are ready," Sensei Hongo informed.

"How? I lost every match," Inky panted.

"You know how to Turf War, no?"

"Yes,"

"You are ready," Sensei Hongo informed.

Inky thought for a moment, before smiling, "Arigato gozaimasu, Sensei"

The cyan haired Inkling bowed, and Sensei Hongo bowed back as Inky headed out.

"She is an okay kid,"

* * *

Sorry this took so long, but hey, it's up now, isn't it?

Taking the time to introduce the store owners felt like a must, as they will be supporting (Sheldon more so than the others when we get to a later point, but topic for another day).

Paintara's buddy is named after a player I once had as a foe in some Turf Wars who was an aggressive jerk and splatted me more times than I can count. So… yea. Get used to that, my personal experiences with Splatoon will color some events in this story.

About the jelly-fish being French… why not? Jelonzo is said to be from another land, and I can picture him speaking French for some reason…

Sensei Hongo is an OC set up at the Battle Dojo, if only to give that place somebody to own it and operate it. I figured for those who don't own the game, maybe this story could help you learn a little bit about it, like some anime do for their games.

My favorite part in "Inkopolis Exploration" was Inky's and Pierre's interactions, and in "Learning To Turf", it was Inky learning how to properly do Turf War stuff, which will be shown in more detail next time.

And FYI, I don't know which Team won the last Splatfest as of this time. I will check my game soon, but am busy with other things at the moment. Please don't spoil it for me.

Just Live More.


	3. Episode 3

Sorry it's been a while, I've gotten busy with school, vlogs, working on Smash Trailers-

Off-Screen Guy: Dealing with leaders of armies of clones who want your head…

Out!

*Off-Screen Guy headed out*

...well, he's got a point there. That's a whole nother story that's on my DA account…

Regardless… I began to work on this during the day that a certain somebody announced their LP of the game, but I got pre-occupied with various other things… as I already mentioned. Life's a mess and who knows what it'll be like when I go to college.

Chuggaaconroy began to Let's Play one of my personal favorite Splatoon games, even if it's one of the trickiest games I've ever played (thank you Octolings and Octostrikers…), and he confirmed, indirectly, that the LP will only be another week, so I need to get this up while he's doing the game.

This is also our first 'twenty-two minute' special. So… there's that.

Well, here we go. I don't own Splatoon, it belongs to Nintendo. I do own OCs here.

* * *

 **Hey Everyone...**

* * *

Inky sat in the house, still waiting around for the adoptive parent, but was presently watching some Team Turf Wars. She forgot the name of the second team but she knew the other team was called 'Team Runaway Squids', better known as TRS, and was watching them with a small smile.

"I want to have a team like them," Inky giggled, "Guys who got my back and we can coordinate almost completely well,"

* * *

"Splamile!" a male Inkling with a blue t-shirt, glasses, and blue shoes, using the Custom Jet Squelcher, yelled as one of the members got sent tumbling back to the base.

"Sorry…" he apologized as he respawned.

"No you're not!"

The one who respawned, Splamile, who had a mish-mash of clothes at the moment, jumped out and began to fire the .96 Gal as quick as he could, providing a bit of cover for two other members of his team.

"Maseal, cover his a-"

"Butt," she quickly interrupted, revealing her Squid Girl Tunic, Strapping Red and Designer Headphones, "We're being broadcasted to kids, Jot,"

"Go and get him bef-" Jot began… only for them all to get hit by a Killer Wail and sent back to the base with no way to win.

The one with the Bamboozler attempted to fire quickly, but his new ink was covered faster than he could lay it down.

* * *

"Knockout loss, huh?" Inky commented as she looked to her strategy book and began to scribble out some notes, "Ok… focus on being adaptable and get team to reach goal ASAP,"

* * *

"Splamile, you cost us that match!" Jot yelled.

"No I didn't," Splamile responded, now in a Green-Check Shirt, Cherry Kicks and Golf Visor, responded, "Maseal, Tena, back me up here."

Tena, who was an Inkling who appeared a bit older than the others, held his hand up to his chin, his CoroCoro Cap tipping down as he thought tapping his Bubble Rain Boots a bit in thought and then pulled a bit on his Retro Gamer Jersey, "I don't know…"

"Wha-... Maseal?"

Maseal gave a shrug in response as Jot walked over, his Blue Sailor Suit covered with ink, his Octoglasses glistening in the sun light, and his Mawcasins pointing a bit away.

"Jot?"

"Go on and get out," Jot told him.

"Jot, what are you doing?"

"He's proven to be nearly useless."

Splamile was slack-jawed as Jot walked off with Tena following. Splamile then turned to face Masael, who simply shrugged and followed the others, leaving Splamile to sit, "Fine! Go! See if I care!"

* * *

"Jot, what were you thinking?!" Maseal demanded to know.

"He's young, reckless, and a bit on the nonsensical. He's my friend and all, but I'm honestly sick of his recklessness,"

Tena and Maseal were both silent in response as they walked off.

* * *

The following day was a bit on the slow side, as Inky had arrived in the area and saw that Inklings weren't going around and buying new gear like normal. She looked up, but saw that the Map Rotation hadn't come on yet.

"What's up?" Inky asked some random Inkling nearby.

"Team Runaway Squids is looking for a new member!" he informed.

Inky blinked a bit as she looked ahead and saw that Splamile was gone from the group and was sitting over by a back alleway. Inky gave a shrug and walked on over to him, seeing he was just sitting around.

"...hi," Inky smiled.

"Hey," he responded.

"Why'd you leave your team?"

"They kicked me out,"

Inky gave a nod as she sat down next to him and she thought a bit, "Uh… do you want to go into Turf Wars with me? I'm looking for a good team,"

The frown quickly turned upside down as he pulled her into a hug and bolted off for the Great Inkopolis Tower.

* * *

"You've never done any Turf Waring in your life?" Splamile asked as he was getting his gear ready.

"Nope. I was raised in a place it wasn't allowed in," Inky informed, "So I'm just with this here,"

Splamile stuck out his head and looked at her Splattershot Jr., giving a considering look at it and then to her, "The range isn't very good for a Shooter, so look out for long range weapons. That's the only negative aspect of this weapon, consider yourself lucky."

"Yea, I know my weapons… even if I just got stuck with this thing, I know a bit about my Turf War weapons."

"Despite not being in an actual Turf War?"

"Yea. I know that this weapon has low damage, but can fire rapidly and have a wide spread. The Sub is the Splat Bomb and the Special is the Bubbler," Inky smirked as she held the weapon close.

Splamile smiled a bit at how Inky knew her stuff and he walked out wearing the Fake Contacts, Navy Striped LT and Red Hi-Tops, "So… want to know why I wear such strange stuff?"

The girl simply nodded out of curiosity as she had always been curious.

"The perks with clothes all depend on the type you wear. You have very basic clothes, so don't worry. I myself am wearing these Fake Contacts for the purpose of having Ink Recovery Up and a Special Charge up, the shirt is for Damage Up and my shoes are so I can go a bit faster," Splamile explained as he noticed a tilt on Inky's head, "Clothes give you special bonuses in battle."

"Ah,"

"My look is…" he began, turning to a mirror, "...Boring McBoringson…"

Inky couldn't help but giggle as the two headed into a Turf War with two other random people. The elevator lifted them up to a teleported to the Turf War arena and Inky got a nervous grip on her weapon.

' _...this is it. I'm finally doing it… I'm finally on the path to be a Turf War Star…'_ Inky thought with a smile, trying to hold back her nervousness, _'Here we go…'_

* * *

The two teams were teleported to Blackbelly Skatepark, with Inky's group being an orange color and the opposing team being blue. The goal was simple: cover as much turf as possible.

"Let's splat the world together," Splamile told Inky with a smirk.

Inky nodded as she readied her Splattershot Jr. for action.

The signal to begin went off and the two teams charged forward, Inky proceeding to get right to splatting the ground to build up her Bubbler a bit. While Inky was at that Splamile quickly tossed a Sprinkler in a hard to find area before heading forward with the .96 Gal.

Both teams inked up areas near the map and proceeded forward to the spot where they'd meet up and begin to splat each-other. Splamile was able to splat at least two foes, but got splatted himself by somebody with a Charger weapon the same fate would quickly befall Inky. Somebody on the Orange Team quickly fired a shot from the E-Liter and sent the other sniper back to the Blue Team base.

"You ok?" Splamile asked as he and Inky both respawned.

"Yea, I'm good," Inky responded before she saw that a member of the opposing team had managed to get up to their base, with Inky managing to quickly blast her back to her base, "...wow…"

"You've got Turf War blood in ya," Splamile smiled as he headed off.

Inky giggled as she charged forward and began to work on inking up some of the areas that were blue and that her team had forgotten about. She found her Bubbler meter charging up slowly but surely, making her think as she realized how much she'd be able to help out. She wasn't noticed as she fired off her ink… before she was nearly hit by a Charger again, "What is it with-"

She got splatted…

"...chargers?" she groaned when she respawned.

She shrugged and simply got back to what she was doing regardless of that.

* * *

"Shoot, shoot, shoot…" Inky muttered as she was low on ink and quickly headed back into it to recharge her tank faster. Splamile quickly began to fire to give her a bit of cover before Inky re-emerged, "Shoot, shoot, shoot. Splamile, how do I use the sub?!"

"I guess you could say that you haven't got… an inkling of what to do?" Splamile joked as the two of them both got hit by a Roller.

The two respawned and Inky sighed a bit, "...not the best time…"

"Click the button on the back of your tank,"

"Thank you,"

Inky quickly zipped off and managed to fire a Splat Bomb and it blew up just as time was called, "Oh… it's over already? Huh…"

* * *

Judd began to judge the turf that was covered and presented the results. The Blue Team had 49.9% while the Orange Team had… 50.1%!

"I won… I… I won my first Turf War! Yay!" Inky cheered as she jumped up and down like a young child on a sugar rush.

"Great job," Splamile smiled as thumbs up came from their other two team-members.

* * *

Two more matches had gone on and Inky and Splamile had proven to be a decent team, which had not gone unnoticed by Jot…

* * *

"Let's splat the world together, splat the world together…" Inky sang as she and Splamile left the tower, only for Team Runaway Squids to be there when they left, "Oh… hi,"

"What?" Splamile inquired.

"You're skilled… I was wrong about you," Jot apologized, "Want back in?"

"I've got a new good partner," Splamile smiled as he hugged Inky, who gave an innocent wave, "Why should I join back up?'

"He's got a point, we did just bail on him," Maseal responded.

Jot growled a bit as he glared at Inky and Splamile, "Turf War. Us three vs. you two."

"Why not include your new partner?" Inky inquired.

They all tensed a bit as a replay of the match went on somebody's phone, showing a female Inkling who was censored.

"I don't even know what was happening," Tena admitted.

"I told my girlfriend she was replacing Splamile… and she took on his recklessness…" Jot informed.

The new tag team exchanged a look and thus they headed into the tower and went downstairs to a special Turf War arena. The area was mainly black with white areas to make it so that the colors wouldn't hurt people's eyes when in the area.

"The Ultimate Match," Splamile noted.

"I've heard rumors of this place being an unofficial Turf War area for those who have vendettas against somebody or for tie-breakers in final results," Inky noted.

"And keep in mind, there's no operating respawn generators. So if you're KOed, you won't re-spawn until the match is over," Jot commented.

Inky nodded as she and Splamile went to the left side and then Jot, Maseal and Tena went to the right side. Inky and Splamile went with Cyan while Jot, Maseal and Tena went with Lime-Green. Both teams prepared their weapons and the objective of 'KO All Foes' appeared.

"What's the plan?" Inky asked, "We only have one shot…"

Splamile began to whisper to her and Inky gave a thumbs up, faking laughter to make it seem like they were strategizing.

Thus, the match had begun. Maseal and Inky began to spray ink around their bases to begin giving them a bit of cover and some lines of defense. Splamile dashed forward, seemingly being reckless, while Jot simply motioned Tena way. Jot and Splamile charged up towards each-other and Jot rolled his eyes.

"So is she your strategist?"

"Au contraire…" Splamile responded as he got smacked by a Bust Bomb, Jot not seeing the trap left just as Splamile vanished.

"...oh sh-" Jot yelped as he was KOed by a well placed Sprinkler.

Both Maseal and Tena turned in amazement at this as Tena was KOed by Inky.

"How did you do that?!" Maseal demanded to know.

"Study up on your weapons a-" Inky began, a smirk on her face, before she slipped and got a face full of Lime Green ink. She was still alive, but her face was covered in ink, "...I meant to do that…"

"Gonna give you a five second head-start," Maseal offered, which Inky accepted and ran off as fast as she could.

* * *

Inky sat in waiting as she conservatively spread a bit of her ink around to hide in and then try to evade Maseal as best she could.

"I know you're nearby Inky…" Maseal called out as Inky put a bit of ink on a wall and hid there, "I can see your trail… and now… call to the beast inside! Unleash the Kraken!"

Her squid form became a giant Kraken and it plowed through, spreading ink everywhere… except the area that Inky was hiding in. Maseal's Kraken had run out and she began to work on re-filling it. Inky quickly re-emerged, spread a bit of ink around, and then tossed a Splat Bomb.

"Nice try," Maseal responded, even though the Splat Bomb did slightly ink her.

Inky then charged forward with her Bubbler enabled and managed to splat Maseal.

* * *

"Okay kid, that was impressive play," Maseal admitted as the five headed out, "How'd you know I was coming up?"

"Echolocator, Splamile placed one just as the match started and I was laughing. Also… my beating you was just stupid luck because the Splat Bomb missed where I was aiming it..."

"You stalled us… you are one clever squid," Jot admitted as he gave Splamile a pat on the back, "...look, I'm sorry about what happened. You wanna come back?"

Splamile nodded, making Inky's eyes widen, "Sorry kid… me and my crew, well… we have a certain level of freshness and stuff… I'm honestly sorry,"

"...it's fine. You got your friends and stuff," Inky responded with a reassuring smile, "It's fine. Go on back to your crew,"

The four smiled and gave Inky a small hug, "But if you ever need training, just call us,"

"I will," Inky nodded as the four friends headed off.

Once she was sure she was all alone the young Inkling walked over to the back alleyway, sat down, curled up, and began to cry a bit, 'I know I said I was fine… but I was bonding with somebody. I'm all alone again…'

Inky sobbed a bit before Pierre walked over and gave her a comforting hug…

* * *

Yea, if it wasn't obvious, Splamile and is buddies are all references to Chuggaaconroy and The Runaway Guys. I couldn't find a way to make it subtle… if anybody takes any of the small jabs the wrong way, I do apologize. As for the names… 'Splamile' came from 'Spla' and 'mile' from 'Emile'. Jot is a combination of the 'Jo' from Jon and the 'ot' from 'shot'. Maseal is 'Masae' and 'seal' combined in a way, and Tena… it was the best I could think of for NCS.

The .96 Gal was one of Chugga's favorite weapons, so… why not?

Inky's struggles during her first Turf War was reflective of my own… I got placed up against some strong foes. Heck, my first Splatfest was so stacked up against me and my team, I'm surprised my team won… (the Pokemon Splatfest, just FYI).

My favorite part has to be where Inky won through dumb luck, because it just seems cute for a newbie to win by stupid luck.

Splamile breaking off from Inky is because… well… apart from one character, I have no idea what her team will be like and I would like to try and keep it original.

And yes, the title of the episode is derived from the opening bit of 'Hey everyone, it's Chuggaaconroy'. Original, I often ain't.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this, because I certainly did… and I'm sorry this took a while…

Just Live More.


	4. Episode 4

-February 2nd, 2017-

Finally gonna see this Switch Direct thingy… ready buddy? *gets a nod from an Orange Inkling Squid plushie* Here we go. *watches trailer and cuddles up with plushie upon revelation of _Splatoon 2_ *

-Present-

I'm still rather happy about this… even though I plan to stick with my Wii U a bit longer and the original. I haven't even had it two years…

Before anybody asks how _Splatoon 2_ will affect this… well, it mainly depends on what occurs in the game, but I can say that it has extended Splat-Toon from three seasons to four seasons at minimum so I can cover content that'll be in the sequel.

I'll admit, I haven't played Splatoon in a while and don't even remember when I last turned on the Wii U. I've been occupied with other projects and other games… *turns to a picture of Sun and Moon.* ...leave me alone.

Regardless, I will be attempting to update this story a little bit more and try playing the game a bit more.

For those of you who read the DA stories that I posted that had Splatoon in them that were part of art trades, while not canon with the Splat-Toon storyline, Inky and Paintara both appeared in them. They were basic demo grounds for concepts for the story and me trying to figure out how I could make these characters work. However, those who read may have noticed there's a character missing. We're finally introducing him and this, officially, begins the 'Inky's Team Arc'. I say 'officially' as the previous chapter is what kicks off the events for this arc.

I don't own Splatoon, but I do own some Inkling OCs.

* * *

 **Splashin' Around**

* * *

Inky, returning home from a fruitless day of forming a team, saw yet another note that was tapped to the door.

'Dear Kid- Sorry I couldn't make it home again. Busy with work and stuff. Hope you had a good day.' Inky skimmed, but was so exhausted from the walk home that she ignored the rest of the note and plopped down onto the couch, the young Inkling girl dozed off almost as soon as she had made contact with it.

* * *

Inky slowly began to stir as she heard a sound of sorts and felt something tap her cheek. Her eyes slowly opened up reveal a Splatterscope aimed right at her.

"You have one minute to tell me what are you doing in my home…" the Inkling holding the Charger told Inky.

"...I live here." she responded bluntly as the Splatterscope was aimed closer to her.

"No you don't. Only me and my mom do."

"...oh. I didn't know whoever adopted me had a son," Inky commented, "Then again, I had no idea that the person who adopted me was a she…"

"Adopted?" he blinked a bit before looking down at the piece of paper in her hands, "...did you read that?"

"Part of it."

"Read all of it."

Inky rolled her eyes and was about to put on her glasses… only to see that the male Inkling was standing on them, "...gee thanks."

He moved away and then saw that he had accidentally crushed them.

"Eh, I just need them for distance seeing. It's fine," she shrugged as she skimmed the rest of the note, "Oh. ...so, Splaster?"

"Yea. Who are you?"

"My name's Inky, your mom adopted me… for whatever reason, and I live here now."

Splaster, who had a light green hair from what Inky could tell, sat down next to Inky, "Sorry about that. My mom's had people try and break in several times…"

"What does she do?"

"She says she works for Inktendo, but I don't buy it. What she actually does do, heck if I know." Splaster honestly shrugged, "...sorry for waking you up. Go on and go back to sleep, I'll see if I can get your glasses fixed,"

"You don't need to."

"Go back to sleep, I'll take care of it," he assured.

Inky simply shrugged as she took a pillow and went right back to sleep. Splaster then put a blanket onto her and headed out.

* * *

This time, Inky was slowly stirring after smelling something being cooked. She woke up and saw a plate of chocolate chip pancakes were sitting on the table that was in front of her and by the TV. Inky giggled happily as she turned to see that Splaster was sitting at the kitchen table with his own plate.

"Morning Sleepy-Inky," he smiled.

"Morning back at ya. What's the occasion for such great looking food?"

"Celebrating having a sister, of sorts,"

Inky smiled as she proceeded to begin eating the pancakes with a large grin before she thought of something, "Hey Splaster…"

"Yea?"

"Where were you the past… however many days I've been here?"

"Interning at Museum D'Alfonsino, but the trip back home was to long. I had my mom rent me an apartment until my internship was up,"

Inky's eyes widened a bit, "You got to intern at the place with some of the most famous art pieces ever?!"

"You like art?"

"Back in Inkas, when I was in Art, I learned a bit about some famous pieces and artists. Like Leoinkio DeSquidio, Pablo Pinkaso, among others."

"Some of their work is still hanging up at the place. Wanna head there?"

"I'd love to!"

* * *

With train tickets being purchased, transferring several trains, and making sure they could get in, the duo arrived at Museum D'Alfonsino nearly two hours later.

"Now I see why you had an apartment closer to here…" Inky commented with a small groan, sitting down on a bench outside the entrance.

"You good to go?" Splaster asked, with Inky quickly standing up, "Alright. Let's go,"

The two walked in and Inky gawked in amazement at the various works of art that were all over the area. Splaster had to keep the younger girl in line as she had headed out of sight of him numerous times.

* * *

"Don't make me put a tracker on you…" he growled at her after finding her zipping around for the fifth time.

"Sorry, sorry… I'll stay with you, I promise."

Splaster sighed a bit, but couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"How old are you anyway?"

"Turned 14 around… two months ago, I wanna say…"

"Heh. 17,"

Inky blinked a bit and looked at herself and then at Splaster, noting that they were about the same height before a new thought had entered her mind, "...you're not going to look down at me, are you?"

"No way. I'm going to treat you as my equal… unless you act like a child. Then I'll treat you differently."

"Noted," Inky nodded as they walked over to a piece of art showing the evolution of the Inklings from pure squid, to the humanoid form they now have, "Really pretty, huh?"

"Indeed."

The two walked around a bit more before coming upon an image of what looked to be an Inkling girl, "The famous Mona Liqa,"

"Do you think this person is actually a female?"

"Couldn't tell you. Heard good arguments for it being female or it being male."

-Attention all visitors. Our doors will be closed due to a Turf War about to occur. For those who wish to observe, please proceed to the observation deck.-

Inky squealed happily and ran right for the observation desk, with an annoyed Splaster following.

* * *

"Go Team Orange! Kick their butts!" Inky yelled as the two Teams were presently of Orange and Pink.

Splaster brushed his light-green hair back a bit as he sat down next to her, "So… you like Turf Wars?"

"Love them! I've even been in a few Random Team One's," Inky giggled, "...somehow."

"Huh?"

"Don't you need to be like… 15 or 16 to enter Turf Wars?"

"You're clearly not from Splatkyo. There's no age restriction here."

Inky gave a nervous giggle in response as she meekly shrugged.

"I do remember seeing you working with Splamile. What happened?"

"He went back to his crew. I don't mind… I can find a team one of these days…" she assured, but Splaster was easily able to tell that she wasn't saying all of the details…

* * *

"Team Pink did pretty well, didn't they?" Splaster asked as Inky had a huffy look as they were on their way home.

"I suppose. I'm glad that Team Orange didn't battle Team Magenta. I've met their leader and let me tell you, he's the biggest jerk ever." Inky declared, "I want to smear that stupid grin off of his face and be a Turf War Star before he is ever able to be!"

Splaster simply gave a nod as he was about to tune her ramble out before he noticed who was in across from them, "Uh… Inky?"

"And I'll rub that win in his face…"

"Inky…?"

"He'll never look down at Inky ever again!"

"Inky!"

"What?" she loudly groaned as Splaster finally made her see who was sitting just across from them, "...you…"

"Un-Freshie… those are just pipe dreams. Go play with your toys and leave Turf Wars to the big kids." he mockingly told her as he got off the train and to the Flounder Heights Apartment.

Inky and Splaster both stepped out and waited for the transfer, with Inky clearly anrgy about the comments that Paintara had made to her. Splaster thought about something he could use to keep her mind off of it, before an idea entered.

"So… you've heard about rumors about Bluefin Depot?"

"That abandoned train station? What about it?"

"There are rumors that it's haunted…" Splaster commented, "They say ghosts made them close it down."

"Sure people haven't just been hearing the screams of agony from Inklings who lost on Moray Towers?"

"Moray Towers may be nearby, but I don't think it's that close…" Splaster laughed, "Do you think that Hammerhead Bridge could be a train route as well?"

"Who knows," Inky shrugged off.

The two simply shrugged as the train arrived and they climbed on in.

"Does the train go through Urchin Underpass?" Inky asked, "Cause the track map is similar to that road thing…"

"Doubt it, since that is a freeway..."

"Don't trains go on freeways?"

Splaster simply buried his face into his hands at that question.

"...I don't have freeways where I'm from. You walked everywhere!"

"...fair enough…" was all Splaster said, albeit heavily muffled.

* * *

The duo soon returned home and Splaster saw a note stuck to the door, "Let's see… 'Dear Splaster (& Kid)- Sorry I wasn't here again, I was all set to meet the kid and reunite with you, but an emergency meeting was called.'"

"What sort of an 'emergency meeting' can a video game developer have?" Inky couldn't help but ask.

"Bad glitch that could ruin the whole game? You do get why I think she's doing something bigger…" Splaster shrugged as he opened the door and set the note down.

The two simply headed on in and Splaster simply set the note down. A gust of wind then blew the note to the backside and a light poking in from outside revealed letters written in invisible ink, 'S.R.L.'...

* * *

 **S.R.L., New Task**

* * *

Evening rolled around and not many people were up at this time, but some were.

A distance south from Inkopolis, but still within the Splatkyo region, was the Piranha Pit. An Inkling woman with pink-tinted hair and in a white labcoat walked up to a wall and knocked on it three times. A small window of sorts opened up and a pair of eyes stared at her.

"What's the password?"

"Sea-rchin'," she responded.

The woman was let in and sat down with other Inklings that were in white clothes, when one Inkling with dark purple hair walked over.

"Mr. Nogami," the pink-tinted woman greeted.

"Ms. Meshi," he smiled back.

"Please, call me Inka," she insisted.

"Mr. Nogami, why did you call an emergency meeting?" another male Inkling inquired.

He let out a sigh as he took out a file labeled 'top secret', showing it to them, "The Great Zapfish has vanished."

Everybody but Inka gasped in response.

"...I already know that sir…"

"But we were given some info that nobody else knows…" he informed nervously as he showed off a picture of the Great Zapfish being carried off nearby the Pit, "The World Governments are assigning us with figuring out where the Great Zapfish has gone since then. The Squid Research Lab will be focusing all attention on this until further notice."

The others all gave nods in response as they were all sent to their work areas, with Inka taking a moment to stare at a picture of herself and a younger Splaster…

* * *

...would you believe me if I told you that I didn't hear about the Squid Research Lab until the _Splatoon 2_ reveal? I honestly didn't… smooth me…

Anyway… you may be wondering about Inky's and Splaster's conversation about how Moray Towers is nearby Bluefin Depot. Well, as shown in Episode 26 of Chugga's Splatoon LP, the world is interconnected. I'll explain this to the best of my ability, so here we go.

Inkopolis Plaza is connected to Arrowana Mall, as there's a tower that only those areas have, and Walleye Warehouse is (likely) in a building within the area.

Blackbelly Skatepark also has the tower visible, but it's from a distance and across a river. Flounder Heights is somewhere near there, and there are power lines that go up to Camp Triggerfish. Kelp Dome is also somewhere on the mountain that Flounder Heights is located on. Bluefin Depot is an abandoned train station nearby Flounder Heights. The Depot has Port Mackerel visible from a distance, and the same tower that is within the 'Downtown Inkopolis' area.

Moray Towers also has that same area of vision nearby, so it's likely closeby to the Depot. Nearby Moray Towers is a Freeway that goes above Urchin Underpass. Moray Towers also has two bridges visible, one of them being Hammerhead Bridge.

Saltspray Rig's location is a bit tricky, but there's a likely connection to Urchin Underpass. The Rig has a location that resembles a real life bridge similar to an overpass by Urchin Underpass (since Inkopolis is kinda based on Japan).

Prianah Pit is located by some brown looking rocks and an ocean, just like where Octo Valley is, leading me to believe it's just outside of Octo Valley, the Valley itself not to far away from Inkopolis itself.

Ancho-V Games and Museum D'Alfonsino, two of the last areas added to the game, don't have a clear connection. If I had to take a stab, Ancho-V games is another warehouse in Downtown Inkopolis, and the Museum is somewhere nearby Flounder Heights, due to some similar building structures to Flounder Heights. As for Mahi'Mahi Resort... best guess is that it's some sort of Hawaiian theme park or something.

Sorry for the lengthiness there… just had to explain all of that.

We'll be going back to the Squid Research Lab at sporadic points, but I just figured here would be the best spot to bring them up.

Inka, Splaster's mother, her name is a play on the squid food called 'ikameshi and, obviously, ink. Splaster is the last of the three main characters from the DA demo stories, so we'll be bringing in more new characters soon. And, yes, the guy in charge of the S.R.L. is indeed named after the producer of the sequel. ...I didn't know Ryotaro was related to a video game producer.

Inky's glasses being broken… I'll be honest, I forgot I gave Inky glasses until I re-read the other episodes for consistency's sake. Them being broken won't hamper her in anyway, so yea.

My favorite part from 'Splashin' Around' is when Inky and Splaster act like siblings, since it's a cute dynamic. My favorite part from 'S.R.L., New Task' is when we see Inka look at a picture of her son, to show she is indeed thinking about him.

Glad to be making another episode, and I promise Episode 5 won't be as long of a wait.

Just Live More.


	5. Episode 5

The next episode is made within the same month compared to the several month gap between episodes 1-4. I haven't meant for a long delay, but I've simply been busy and not really had Splatoon on my mind.

I can say that future plot lines are being worked on, but I will not say anything because you guys will need to be surprised.

Another thing, there'll be an announcement of a small Splatoon project I have in mind that'll be exclusive to my DA account and tie into how I sort or perceive this as a cartoon of sorts. You'll see when we get to the end of this episode.

Oh, and one other thing. We will be having a Valentine's Day special, but I'm still trying to figure out how it'll work out.

Splatoon belongs to Nintendo.

* * *

 **Rollin' Around**

* * *

"I'm headin' on out to do some more Turf War stuff, Splaster," Inky called out as she was heading for the door.

"Alright, but before you go…" Splaster said as he walked over and handed her something, "Take it."

"Hmm?" she blinked as she looked and saw it was a cellphone, "Wow! A phone! ...wait… didn't you say you were going to repair my glasses the other day?"

"Working up some money to do that, since I had gotten a spare phone in case I lost my main one which is now presently yours. You can use it to call me if something comes up," Splaster told Inky as she headed out, "...and I can use it to keep an eye on you and stuff."

* * *

As Inky was heading into the city her phone began to buzz. The young Inkling took it out and looked at it, seeing it was an update about the Map Rotation about to alter. Inky simply stared in confusion as she arrived in the plaza, before seeing the jumbotron turn on, "Oooooh…"

"Shh!" various Inklings responded.

-Hold onto your tentacles…-

-It's Inkopolis News Time.-

Inky simply sat down next to Pierre and the duo watched the monitor.

-Let's unveil the current regular battle stages.-

-All right.-

The first stage appeared and it was an area called Ancho-V Games.

-Man, I totally want to work here!- Callie commented.

-You want to be a pop star AND have a desk job?!- Marie blinked.

The next stage appeared and it was Blackbelly Skatepark.

-This looks like a great venue for an outdoor gig!- Callie commented.

Marie was silent for a few seconds before she responded, -That's a pretty good idea actually!-

The two commented about Ranked Battles, but Inky had zoned out and was began to look around a bit. Inky noticed a female pinkette Inkling, who had on a Tradition Apron and Oyster Clogs and lack headgear, walk into an alleyway.

-Until next time…-

-STAY FRESH!-

"Hey, Pierre."

"Qui?"

"See that corner there?" Inky asked, gesturing to where she had just seen the Inkling walk into, "Is there something there?"

Pierre gave a shrug in response, "Us kart vendorz signed papers saying we can't go zere…"

"I see…" Inky nodded.

"But moi has noticed some Inklings walking out with, how you say, fresher gear?" Pierre added as he turned to face Inky, only for a smoke cloud to slowly dissipate from where she was sitting, "...good luck, mon ami,"

* * *

"S'appenin' mate?" a male with a Cockney accent asked the pinkette Inkling that had walked over to him. The pinkette Inkling stood before a Sea Urchin who had a poncho, some pants and clogs.

"Did you get it?" she asked nervously.

He simply nodded as he handed the item in a bag to her, making the Inkling giggle happily as she handed him a small bag of cash, "Cheers, love."

The pinkette happily took out a cap and slid it onto her head, being the Squidvader Cap, thus she skipped along out as Inky slipped on in with a giddy grin on her face. The pinkette turned and watched as Inky approached the Sea Urchin.

"Hiya," Inky greeted.

"Now who're you?" he blinked as he looked at her for a moment, "Not to be harsh love, but you're lookin' right moldy at the moment."

Inky gave a head tilt in response to this.

"I can't be dealin' wif blokes below Level 4 on the Freshness Scale. So maybe go do a bit of battlin' before you come back, yeah?"

Inky's face paled as the pinkette helped her out.

* * *

"What is the obsession with being fresh?!" Inky growled and sobbed a bit as she downed a can of Fizzie Popper and crushed the can, "Another…"

"I'm going to be out of ze supplies soon…" Pierre told Inky as he nervously handed it to her.

Inky opened the can and began to sip it as she was joined by the pinkette Inkling she saw earlier, "...here to gloat?"

"No. Sorry about Spyke there… he just wants to make sure people can actually use the stuff he gets them…" the pinkette explained as she took out some cash, "Get me my usual."

"Right away, Mau."

Inky turned to her, "...Inky."

"Nice to meet you," Mau smiled, "What's up?"

"...just annoyed that, yet again, not being 'fresh' has resulted in me not getting to do cool things and be on my way to being a Turf War Star. I basically left Inkas for this and I haven't made much progress…"

"Didn't you team-up with a member of The Runaway Squids?"

"He went back to his team," she shrugged.

Pierre brought over a small dish of cheese puff balls and some ketchup and mustard for Mau, "Enjoy."

"Thanks," Mau giggled as she took a toothpick and dipped the chip into some ketchup, making Inky look on in disgust, "It's tasty. Go ahead and try one."

"No thanks. I would like to keep my soda where it is,"

"Come on… it's really good…"

Inky quickly turned her head away, when Mau began to make train like sounds. Inky turned back and began to speak again, "What are you do-"

Mau then quickly put the cheese ball into Inky's mouth and held it close with her other hand. Inky glared a bit as she was forced to eat it, but smiled a bit as Mau took out the toothpick.

"...not bad," Inky admitted.

"You're welcome…" Mau giggled, "And… your mom never did that train thing to get you to eat something when you were little?"

"...I don't really remember my mother."

"Oh… I'm sorry. Is she…?"

"She's alive, I know it," Inky said with a wide smile.

Mau simply looked at her, but simply shrugged. She quickly finished up her snack and then turned to the Great Inkopolis Tower, "If you wanna get Spyke's help, you gotta prove you're fresh enough. Let's get some Turf Wars done together,"

"You wanna help me?" she gawked.

"Yea. Let's go,"

* * *

The duo arrived at the tower and entered a Random Turf War, but were indeed on the same team. Mau took a moment to take out her weapon and ready it.

"What's up?" Inky couldn't help but ask.

"This is my first time using this baby, so this'll be special."

"Neat," Inky smiled.

"And if you get stuck, I'll be sure to help you out."

"Thanks,"

The duo were soon teleported to Ancho-V Games alongside two Splat Charger users, the four presently colored pink. The opposition, colored orange, had a Splat Roller, a Carbon Roller, a Splat Charger and a Wasabi Splattershot. The battle began and Inky quickly began to cover turf around their base while Mau and the Charger users headed off. Inky leapt off from the base and began to ink the area around a computer, when she saw a large fan sitting nearby. She curiously walked over to it and began to tap it. The sound of a Splat Bomb going off startled Inky and made her fire the Splattershot Jr into the fan, causing the ground to move a bit.

"What the…?" she blinked as she continued to fire and caused it to reach a segment nearby. She jumped off and began to spread some ink and continued forward, but eventually got sent back by a shot from the Wasabi Splattershot, "...I like that Shooter's look."

Inky quickly used the wrist watch that was given to everybody to use the ability to Super Jump, but just as she was about to Super Jump back into action, she noticed there was something near where she was earlier. She tapped the icon and quickly jumped towards it, she landed, but didn't know what allowed her to jump there. She then heard a chime to indicate that somebody was Super Jumping towards her position which turned out to be Mau.

"...okay, I know how you got here, but how did _I_ get here?"

"Beakon," Mau informed as she set down said device.

"Beakon?"

"Basically, when one's down, you can Super Jump to it. And if you know where to place one, you can get close to the enemy base and ink close to it," Mau explained as they headed forward when a platform began to raise nearby them, "Inky, ink up that wall for me. Got an idea!"

"All over it," Inky nodded as she did so.

Mau smirked and then gave a gesture to follow her, which Inky did, allowing them to sneak up and splat the Orange Team's Splat Charger user.

"Nice!" Inky smirked, "Oh, so does inking up the walls count towards the turf count at the end?"

"Nope. It's stupid, especially in an area like Blackbelly Skatepark. My team lost by just a little because the walls that got inked didn't count!"

The raised platform slowly descended and Inky blinked a little bit as she noticed something, "Hey uh… Mau?"

"Make it quick, we're sitting ducks right now."

"What's this symbol-" Inky began to ask as… what could basically be described as an Ink Nuke came down on them and splatted them both.

The two then respawned back at their base.

"...mean…?" Inky blinked, "...Inkstrike?"

"Inkstrike."

"...want…" she said with a near drool.

"We can go weapon shopping for you when you get a bit fresher, ok? For now, let's-" Mau began when she saw somebody destroy her Beakon and quickly begin to approach, "Shoot…"

Mau quickly sped off to try and get to the Wasabi Splattershot user, but she was unaware that Inky was slowly tailing her. Mau attempted to use the Roller's forward ink attack, but Mau got outsped and the Wasabi Splattershot blocked off any route of escape. Inky then quickly emerged back from the pink ink and managed to surprise the Wasabi Splattershot user with a Splat Bomb.

"...how did you…?"

"I swam a tiny bit in front of you," Inky smirked as she was about to get hit by a sniper shot, but Mau managed to smack her out of the way in time, "...thank you…"

"I got your six,"

"...meaning what?"

"I've got your back,"

Thus, the two proceeded to head forward and continue to ink up turf, before one minute on the clock was left and it was ticking down quick. Both of them had gotten their Special ready and were waiting for the right moment to use it. They had managed to evade the Rollers and the Charger user on the other side and thirty seconds were left on the clock.

"Alright. Inky, back up a moment… it's time for my signature maneuver…" Mau smirked.

"Oh no… I know who that is! I know what she's going to do! Everybody duck for cover!" the Splat Roller user yelled, causing two of them to hide in their ink while the other two went back to the Spawn Point.

Mau smacked her fists together, causing a symbol to appear between them as she radiated with energy. She then changed into a much larger squid form, but gave a confused look.

"Oh! The Kraken! Go go go!" Inky yelled as she motioned towards Orange Team squids.

Mau, with a shrug, charged forward and managed to splat two Inklings.

"...guess she switched weapons…" one Inkling commented as they headed forward, only to get splatted by Inky, "...ow…"

"Take her down when that Kraken runs out!"

The Kraken eventually ran out and Mau was left a sitting duck.

"I gotcha!" Inky quickly yelled as she had a symbol appear in front of her, activating the Bubbler around the two of them.

"Nice one!" Mau smiled as they quickly covered as much turf as they could and slipped away before the Bubbler ran out, "You rock!"

"Thanks," Inky giggled, a faint blush appearing on her face.

The two continued to ink as time had finally ran out.

Judd began to look over the area, and the total came out to Orange Team with 39.5% and the Pink Team with 42.8%.

"Alright!" Inky and Mau cheered.

* * *

The duo had returned to the lobby and Mau was looking at the Krak-On Splat Roller with confusion.

"...you know… that thing is called the 'Krak-On' Splat Roller…" Inky commented with a slight hint of snark in her tone.

"That's because of the brand that helped make it," Mau explained.

"Ooh…" Inky stared, "...so… are you used to another weapon?"

"The normal Splat Roller and the Killer Wail. I'm known for waiting until about 30 seconds left in the match and firing it off in a way it hits everyone on the opposing team. I even have a little catchphrase to go with it," Mau informed as she took out her phone and pulled up a video of it.

 _Thirty seconds remained in the clock and Mau had gotten her Special Weapon ready. All of the opposing team was approaching her with their Shooters in tow. Mau simply smirked as she smacked her fists together and a symbol appeared between them._

" _Here I go…" she smirked as she pulled out the Killer Wail, "Momoika no Hoko!"_

 _The weapon fired and KOed the entire opposition, allowing Mau's side to win._

"'Pink Squid's Roar'?" Inky blinked.

"Well, I'm a pinkette, first off. Next, the Killer Wail looks like a roar soundwave of sorts… plus, wail is another word for yell or roar." Mau explained.

"Ok…"

"I got it from some book at a museum." Mau informed as they headed back for battle.

"Oh." Inky nodded.

Mau looked at the Krak-On Splat Roller for a moment, "Hmm… I think I can run with this. I may miss my Momoika no Hoko, but I guess a Momoika no Strike would work better."

"But you'd be a kraken, not a squid…" Inky commented.

"Oh be quiet…"

* * *

The duo soon exited the Great Inkopolis Tower and happily cheered.

"You rock, Mau, the way you used that Kraken and you giving me cover with that Roller…"

"I got to give you a lot of probs with that Bubbler and your timing with those Splat Bombs. You saved my butt from that one Kraken just as it ran out."

"Even though I just get stupid lucky with the Splat Bombs… I had to keep reminding myself I had them," Inky admitted as she felt her phone buzz, "Oh. I need to get going home… my brother says it's getting late."

"Oh. You got a brother?" Mau blinked, "...is he cute?"

Inky simply shrugged as she headed for the exit, with Mau following, "Uh…?"

"I can make sure you get home," Mau smiled before her phone buzzed, "Hmm? Oh… we need to make one quick detour before we get you home. Just a super quick one,"

"Alright…" Inky nodded.

The duo headed for the alleyway where Spyke was and Inky walked on in, "Uh… hi?"

"Now who're you, then? You a cop? ...nah, you're too fresh to be a cop."

Inky simply stared not sure hot to take that.

"But you know what would make you EVEN fresher? Someone else's gear. That's where 'ol Spyke comes in. You ever see a bloke strollin' around the plaza in some right-fresh gear that you fancy for yourself, just snap a picture and send it to me to, uh… 'order' their gear from me. Can't guarantee that I'll get you gear wif the same abilities, but it'll look just as fresh…" Spyke smiled as he handed a piece of paper with his number to Inky, but he quickly noticed a confused look on her face, "Trust me, love. Right, then. I'll be waiting for your order."

"Alright… bye…" Inky blinked as she and Mau headed off.

* * *

"Oh joy… another note," Inky sighed "'Dear Inky- Something came up and I had to head out. Key's under the mat, and I left some food in the fridge. If you have a buddy over, don't make a mess. Splaster'."

"Aw man…" Mau sighed.

"...you wanna hang out a bit?" Inky offered.

"Sure," Mau smiled as Inky let her in, "Oh. Mind if I slip off my shoes?"

"By all means," Inky shrugged.

* * *

The two girls sat and watched some TV, when the Squid Sister came up and announced the next Map Rotation.

"Why do they always announce it?" Inky asked.

"They're extremely famous and stuff."

"Marie's kinda cute,"

Mau simply turned and stared at Inky for a moment.

"What? Girls can call other girls 'cute',"

"Fair enough," Mau shrugged, "So… do you wanna do something?"

"Hmm…" Inky blinked as she glanced down at Mau's feet and simply smirked.

"Don't you dare…" Mau quickly told her, "You better not be thinking about what I think you're thinking about Inky…"

Inky simply continued to smirk.

"No, Inky…"

Inky then managed to pin Mau down and begin to tickle her feet.

"BAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP IT!" Mau managed to yell while she laughed.

"Me and somebody I knew back in Inkas did this all the time when it was just us." Inky giggled, "You'll get your turn later."

"STAHAHAHAHAHAP!"

Inky kept it up before Mau saw a bit of Inky's stomach due to her shirt slipping down due to how she was sitting. Mau managed to reach over and begin to tickle Inky's stomach, making her laugh wildly.

"KNOCK IT OFF! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"YOU STAHAHAHAP FIRST!"

"YOU FIRST!"

Neither let up, so the two girls had their little tickle fight for about another three minutes. They eventually stopped to catch their breaths before they both laughed at each-other.

"You are such a goof," Mau giggled, "Anyway, I gotta get home. See you around,"

"Bye," Inky giggled as Mau headed off, "...haven't had that much fun since I was with _her_ so long ago…"

* * *

 **Squid Sister Odd Jobs, Ancho-V Games Employee**

* * *

Marie was in the midst of a nap as Callie was slipping into a new set of clothes. Callie slipped out, with a note being sat down by Marie to let her know when she had woken up.

'Dear Marie-

Looking to get a back-up job in case the singer thing goes south. See ya.

\- 3 Callie'.

* * *

"So Miss… Uno, why did you want to do this?" an Inkling with yellow hair and a business suit asked.

Callie, presently wearing a long pink jacket, black high heels, a pink beanie with a star on the side and a pair of sunglasses, simply smiled, "I do have another job, but I want to have another in case things go south."

"I like the cut of your jib. You're hired,"

* * *

"Your job is to sit and save files when they arrive at this computer, and make sure nobody comes in and steals them. Got it?"

"Gotcha." Callie smiled.

"Good luck,"

Callie simply sat down and began to do the save files when they arrived. She kept this up for about an hour, before getting really bored. She walked off and began to eat some snacks, before watching a Turf War occur. She cheered on the Pink Team and did her 'Stay Fresh' pose as the match ended, though nobody seemed to notice her. Callie soon returned to the computer, snuck off to film the next Map Rotation update, returned and dozed off as a result of boredom.

* * *

"Uno! Wake up!" the boss yelled, snapping Callie awake, "You didn't do the data transfer and now everything is backed up!"

"...I can fix that…" Callie quickly assured.

"And worse than that, you let somebody steal an arcade cabinet for _Squid Jump_!"

Callie blinked and saw that… a cabinet was there, "Uh…?"

"We have more than one, but an entire unit was stolen! You're fired!"

* * *

"Oh, hi Ms. Agento Uno. What were you up to?" Marie asked with snark oozing in her tone

"Worked at Ancho-V Games… got fired for stalling production and somehow letting an entire game cabinet get stolen." Callie informed as she took off her disguise, with Marie laughing at this, "Ok… I'll admit this is kinda funny… but still… wonder where it went…"

* * *

Inky sat in her house and was playing the arcade cabinet of _Squid Jump_.

"And you got this… how?" Splaster asked.

"Radio contest." Inky responded as she beat a level.

"Alright…" Splaster shrugged as he walked off.

"...dunno how Spyke got this, but this is really cool!" Inky muttered as she got a game over, "Ah well. Let's go again!"

* * *

Yea… so, the Squid Sister thing is meant to give us some bits with the Squid Sisters, and is in existence for plot reasons for the next arc after this one.

Now, for the 'Momoika no Hoko'. Yes, that is a Fairy Tail reference, I just thought of how the Killer Wail sorta looked like the Karyu no Hoko a bit, and it gave me a great way for a Special activation pose. *blinks* And… I just now remember Natsu has pink hair… Mau had pink hair before I decided to have that joke. Anywho, Mau is the name of somebody I worked with on thefinal Splatfest, but I couldn't get a picture of their gear. Her using the Krak-On Splat Roller came from an Art Trade on DA, where one of Inky's team-mates was stated to use said weapon.

The food thing with Mau will be a running joke with her, she can make great things, but her taste in food is… bizarre to say the least.

My favorite parts are when Inky and Mau hang out after they end their round of battles and when Inky got to play that game. Simply cute. Squid Jump is fun, but I do hope we get more new games in Splatoon Two. ...also, anybody else hoping they'd call it 'Splatwoon'?

As for that DA exclusive thing… well, I'll explain it better next episode.

Just Live More.


	6. Episode 6

I'll admit, I'm beginning work on this one before Episode 5 is finished simply so this'll be prepared for Valentine's Day. I'm just working on it so it'll be done in time.

Today will be the introduction of the last of Inky's future partners and our second "22-minute episode". We'll be lacking in these for a while after this, but hey sometime short works.

If you're curious as to what network this cartoon would be on if it's real… it'd most likely be Cartoon Network, since Nickelodeon lets animation eventually become zombies and puts on dumb stuff and Disney's booted all animation onto Disney XD for some reason. Cartoon Network is the most stable option, even with garbage and even though it would likely get pushed onto Boomerang in favor of the show that shall not be named airing re-runs.

As a result of that thought, there will be a slight tie in to a Cartoon Network show with a simple one-shot. That one-shot, which will be DA exclusive, is to demo out something for the near future of after this arc.

Splatoon belongs to Nintendo.

* * *

 **Happy Valensplat's Day**

* * *

Inky sat wrapped underneath her blankets on a couch-bed in Splaster's living. The young Inkling simply slept comfortably when the alarm on the radio clock nearby her went off.

-Gooooood morning Kids, Squids, and others!- Callie's voice called out on the radio.

-Why do we need to get up…?- Marie's voice added.

"Agreed…" Inky groaned a bit as she struggled to find the 'off' button so she could sleep more, "Where is that off button…?"

Callie's voice giggled as she continued, -Because today is Valensplat's Day! All of you out there in our crowd have got a Special Squid in your life, don'tcha?"

Inky's expression turned into a frown as she quickly shook her head and sat up to turn off the radio clock

-You do know that some squids could interpret that as a burn if they aren't in a relationship?-

-Apologies to those suids. Regardless, we'll be hosting a special radio show all day today where we answer calls, read out fan letters, and even perform a bit.-

-...we're getting paid for this, right?-

-Yes, we're getting paid for this.-

Inky cheered happily as she finally found the 'off' button as she heard a plate be sat down by her.

"Happy Valensplat's Day, Sleepy-Inky," Splaster smiled as Inky turned to face him, "I see you actually turned of the radio on your own for once."

"Oh be quiet…" Inky commented.

"Anyway… I made heart-shaped pancakes for you."

Inky looked and saw that they were indeed heart-shaped, which made Inky stare for a moment.

"Something the matter?"

"N-no… I'm fine. Just thinking a bit…" she responded.

"Alright. I'm gonna head to the bathroom and then we can do something later," Splaster told her.

She gave a nod and continued to stare at the heart-shaped pancakes with a blank look, before she picked up her fork and began to eat them, _'...she used to make them like this for me…'_

* * *

Inky and Splaster walked throughout Inkopolis and, well one of them anyway, gawked at how nice the area looked with all of the hearts and pink.

"This place looks so pretty, doesn't it?" Splaster asked, but Inky was silent, "Inky?"

"Sorry! I was just spacing out…" she said quickly, "...what did you ask?"

"This place looks pretty, doesn't it?"

"Yea, it does," Inky nodded.

"...are you feeling ok? You've been kind of quiet…"

"I'm fine. I promise… just have some things on my mind," she responded, "But… I'm gonna go and do a few Turf Wars. I'll see you around,"

Inky then quickly headed off and left Splaster there with his own thoughts. He simply shrugged off her odd behavior and proceeded to begin to get some shopping done.

* * *

-Hold onto your tentacles…-

-It's Inkopolis News Time.-

-Let's unveil the current regular battle stages.-

-All right.-

The first stage appeared and it was Arowana Mall.

-Redoing my make-up after a battle is such a hassle.- Callie commented.

-That's why I like to battle au naturel, make-up free.- Marie responded.

The next stage appeared and it was Piranha Pit.

-I used to work part-time here, back in the day.- Callie commented.

-Really? You can hadly life a grocery bag!- Marie snarked.

The two commented about Ranked Battles, but Inky had zoned out again and simply stared around at some of the happy Inkling couples that roamed around.

-Until next time…-

-STAY FRESH!-

Inky gave a shrug as she headed into the Great Inkopolis Tower and signed up for another Turf War. She simply held her Splattershot Jr. for a bit as she was sent into Aorwana Mall, AKA an area of Inkopolis that was sectioned off for Turf Wars, alongside an N-Zape '89 user, Dynamo Roller user and E-Liter 3K user on her purple side, and two L3 Nozzlenose users, a Dynamo Roller user, and an all to familiar looking face with an Octobrush on the magenta team.

"...this just isn't my day…" Inky sighed sadly.

The match began and Inky's three team-mates headed off to begin covering turf and fight their foes. Inky herself simply began to ink the area around her base and go towards the right and began to ink some of the ground in this direction. She let out a small gasp as she saw somebody fling up a weapon on a grate and it began to spread ink rapidly.

"Oh… a Sprinkler. Right…" she recalled, "Those things can stick nearly anywhere and spread a lot of ink…"

She was then KOed by an L3 Nozzlenose shot, along with the Sprinkler, and sent back to base, "...joy…"

Inky simply continued forward and back to where she was a moment ago, but made sure to keep ducked out of sight in the ink just before the grate. Inky waited and managed to cover some ground nearby and KO one of the two L3 Nozzlenose users before a sort of ring surrounded her, "Oh shoot… Echolocator…"

"Oh shoot indeed…" Paintara's voice smirked as he smacked her with the Octobrush and then quickly began to ink the area around their base to cut the young Inkling off. This didn't go unnoticed by somebody on Inky's side as they headed towards the base, "Oh look… weaklings go back to defend more weaklinks…"

Inky felt ready to sob, when she heard the roar of an Inkstrike landing and making Paintara go back to his base.

"You alright?" a male voice asked Inky, the voice belonging to an Inkling wearing a Special Forces Beret, Shrimp Pink-Polo and Red H-Horses, "Well?"

"I'm fine… I guess…" Inky sighed, "Thanks for the help, I guess…"

"No prob. Good luck out there," he smiled as he Super Jumped to another area.

The young girl adjusted her headband and simply swam forward to begin helping her team-mates as best as she could. Inky hung back by the Dynamo Roller user and cleared up a way for them with a few Splat Bombs, but the opposing Dynamo Roller had managed to KO the one on Inky's team before he was KOed by the E-Liter 3K user on Inky's side. The E-Liter 3K user then activated an Echolocator, but was quickly blindsided by the two L3 Nozzlenose users.

"...shoot…" Inky gulped as she was then struck by a Disruptor, "No…"

One of the walked up towards Inky and was about to set up his Killer Wail, when…

"HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!" the user of the N-Zap '89 yelled as he quickly charged forward and managed to KO him before the Killer Wail was activated, "I gotcha…"

"Look after yourself, genius," Paintara's voice said as he Super Jumped over to the other L3 Nozzlenose user, the latter tossing his Disruptor at the N-Zap '89 user, "Here comes the Kraken…"

Paintara leapt down and charged towards them when Inky broke free from the Disruptor and activated the Bubbler. Inky let out a mighty roar and fired at the L3 Nozzlenose user that had hit her team-mate with the Disruptor and fired at Paintara as much as she could, and she somehow managed to KO him after his Kraken ended. Inky quickly turned to the N-Zap '89 user and smiled.

"Guess we're even now…" Inky giggled.

"Yea…" he nodded.

"Good luck out there," Inky smiled as she Super Jumped back to the base, unaware of the N-Zap '89 user staring at her with a blush and hearts in his eyes.

* * *

"How do they keep getting back here so quickly?" the Dynamo Roller user on Inky's team asked.

"I've got a theory… but I need to know if any of them can use the Squid Beakon." Inky informed.

"Octobrush guy," the N-Zap '89 user told her.

"Yeah of course it's him…" Inky growled as she looked over to the corner where the N-Zap '89 user had laid down a Sprinkler earlier, "Follow me. I need somebody to cover my six,"

"Gotcha," he nodded.

The duo quickly headed over to the area by the grate and saw the Beakon sitting there. The duo quickly fired at it and busted it quickly.

"Thanks man," Inky smiled.

"Aces."

Inky blinked a bit at this.

"It's my name."

"Inky." she responded as they quickly began to fire some ink towards the ground, with seconds to spare before time was out.

Judd began to look over the area, and the total came out to Magenta Team with 26.3% and the Purple Team with 64.4%.

Inky cheered and happily hugged Aces at this win, before she stuck out her tongue at Paintara as he left the tower. Aces blushed a bit from the hug, but Inky didn't seem to notice.

"Let's do another round together," Inky cheered as she headed back in.

"Right away," Aces smiled, sighing a lovesick sigh as he followed her.

* * *

The duo arrived at the Piranha Pit alongside the duo of L3 Nozzlenose users. Inky couldn't tell who their foes were, but got an idea of what to do from what she saw of the area around them. She quickly headed to the left, after inking the area around their base, and began to send ink down from a high vantage point. Aces noticed her strategy and hung nearby her and splatted anybody who got to close to her, though Inky didn't seem to notice his help until there was a minute left on the clock and she had accidentally had her Bubbler affect him too.

"Thanks for the help Aces,"

"No problem."

Soon, the match had ended and Judd had declared Inky's side the winner with a score of 48.5% to their opponents 41.9%.

* * *

Inky and Aces continued to do a few more Turf Wars before they headed out to get some lunch. Inky had begun to eat when Aces had headed off to do something and left her to her thoughts.

' _...heh. Made some great buddies… hope that you're happy…'_ Inky thought as she ate her lunch before she looked towards Ammo Knights, "Hmm…"

* * *

Inky presently held the N-Zap '85 and was testing it out. The weapon itself was similar to her current weapon, but…

"So, what do you think?" Sheldon asked her.

"I don't know…" Inky admitted, "It works, but I just don't know if this is really… me."

"Alright. It's fine if you stick with the Splattershot Jr., it's tried and true."

"Yea… thanks anyway,"

* * *

Inky soon left and saw a bouquet of roses in Aces' hands as he was standing there by the door, "Oh, hi Aces. What's up?"

"I got you these… and a card," he smiled as he handed her the roses and she saw the card.

"'Would you like to go out on a date?'" Inky read, making her stare at him for a bit. She was silent for a bit before simply sighing, "...Aces, I'm flattered. Really, I am. But… no."

"No?" he blinked.

"...I'm sorry. B-"

"...jerk…" he responded.

"Aces le-"

He slapped the flowers out her hands and stormed off in a hurry, leaving Inky be herself.

"...t me explain…" she sighed.

* * *

Inky chose to take her mind off of what had just happened by doing a few more Turf Wars… which all went horribly wrong due to Paintara and his Classic Squiffer, even with the horrible range, he was able to pinpoint her specifically and KO her. Even with Inky managing to sneak up, his Bubbler blocked all of her fire.

After nearly two hours of failure after failure, Inky walked out of the Great Inkopolis Tower with a sigh and sat down outside. She overheard the radio with the Squid Sisters talking and saying a number that Inklings could call into so they could get some advice.

* * *

-And we're back from another amazing song!- Callie called out.

-Already?- Marie blinked.

-We're takin up some calls and set to answer another. Hiya. What's your name?-

-...I'd prefer to not say that…- Inky informed.

Both Splaster and Mau overheard this and immediately recognized Inky's voice.

-That's fine. So, what's up?-

-Make it quick please…-

-...I'll try. So… uh… a guy I met while doing some Turf Wars today asked me out on a date… and I told him no.-

-Oooooh… why's that?-

-It's personal, but he stormed off before I could have a chance to explain myself. ...what should I do?-

The Squid Sister began to think a bit before they spoke.

-Well… chances are he'd be at the dance later this evening. Make sure you can apologize to him and tell him why you said no.-

-And if he's still upset at you, offer candy.-

-Thanks… you both rock. Stay Fresh…-

-Stay Fresh.-

* * *

Aces, who also overheard this, simply stared for a moment before he headed off.

* * *

Inky sat and waited around for Aces to show up.

"Inky!" Splaster yelled as he ran over to her.

"Hi."

"Why did you say no to that date, mind my asking?"

"I have my reasons and I'll tell you later… please just leave me alone for a little while?"

Splaster sighed before Mau dragged him off.

"Good luck," Mau smiled.

Inky simply waved and watched as Aces walked over to her and sat down by her. They sat in silence for a moment before Aces sighed.

"Hey… I'm sorry…" Aces apologized, "I've just… never gotten rejected before. I didn't know how to handle it…"

"It's fine…" Inky assured.

"...I at least owe you a chance to explain yourself…"

"Right…" Inky nodded nervously before she pointed over to Splaster and Mau, "So… you see those two over there by Pierre's cart?"

"Yea,"

"The guy's my older brother, though I'm adopted, and she's my other buddy. They don't know what I'm about to tell you… but please just keep it between the two of us and them?"

"Gotcha."

Inky took a deep breath and exhaled, "...so… the reason I said 'no'... is because… I… actually don't like guys… that way."

Aces stared at her for a moment, "Oh. ...oh…"

Then, it clicked in his head, "...ooooooohhhhhh…"

"Yea…" she nodded.

"So… have you dated or had a girlfriend before…"

"There… was this one girl I liked…"

"Oh. Are you two a couple?"

Inky was silent before she had to try and fight back crying.

"Oh… is she…?"

All Inky did was give a nod.

"Oh. ...I'm so sorry…" Aces apologized as he pulled her into a hug to calm her down, "Just let it out…"

Inky sobbed for a few minutes before she calmed down and they separated from their hug, "...don't get me wrong, you're great and all… but… I still can't get over what happened…"

"It's alright. There's other girls out there…" he assured her, "If you want me to not bother you anymore, I'll stop talking to you."

"...you're my friend, dude. Don't go leaving just yet," Inky smiled, "Anyway… I'm gonna go and play a bit of _Squid Jump_ over there… but I'll be sure to save you a dance."

Thus, Inky headed over to the game cabinet that sat in the area. After a few moments, Mau walked over to Inky's side while Splaster walked over to Aces'.

"Hey. You're Inky's brother, right?"

"Yea. Splaster."

"I'm Aces,"

Splaster stared at Aces for a moment, but his expression said a thousand words to Aces.

"She was just venting to me about something… her being the way she is."

"...what does that mean?"

"...how long have you two known each-other?"

"Few days at best…"

Aces simply gave an 'oh' expression as he wordlessly attempted to explain Inky's preferences to him, but it flew completely over his head. After about three failed tries, he motioned to Inky and Mau as the former was playing _Squid Jump_ and made a heart motion, which made it click to Splaster.

"...didn't expect that," he admitted.

* * *

"So… you like other female Inklings?" Mau gawked.

"Yea… I have my reasons, but it's a long story…" Inky responded.

Mau simply stared for a moment, "...do you…?"

Inky paused the game and turned to Mau, "You're a catch, really, but… no. You're my friend, and that's about it."

"Fair enough," Mau smiled as Inky continued the level on the game before a slow song began to play on the radio and various Inklings began to dance, "Didn't you promise a certain boy a dance?"

"Yea…" Inky nodded as she headed over to Aces and began to dance with him, _'If you're watching me Kelpy… I've never forgotten you… and I won't…'_

* * *

So yea… Inky is a lesbian. Bet you didn't see that twist coming, now did ya? As we go into the last story arc for this season, we'll be going more into Inky's past and why she is the way she is, but just know that it won't matter just yet.

Now, I fail to remember if I mentioned this in the last episode, but Mau is based on a person I played a few rounds of Turf Wars with. Thing is, I never got a picture of their gear and weapon, so I had to make something up. Then I re-read one of the Art Trades I did on DA, and saw Inky speaking with somebody using a Krak-On Roller. Thus, that became Mau. Then Aces is based on a fellow Team Marie player from when I was doing the Splatfest. If, in the very unlikely chance, you read this, sorry about how you were portrayed, but that's the way the plot had to flow.

Part of the reason that Inky is the way she is, is because I think that a strong female lead that likes other girls would be something interesting to do for a story/show. I do honestly think that MLP could do that (which I discuss in my new Analysis/Review episode, up now by the way) so… yea.

If I had a favorite part, it would be when Inky and Aces talked. I don't know why… but I just liked that scene.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody, hope you get to spend it with somebody special. Me? I'll be spending it alone… again… romance stinks sometimes, guys.

Just Live More.


End file.
